When I was about 13, I read "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain. Written in the 1st person, there was something about being inside the head of Huck Finn that completely enthralled me. It's not a short book, but when I reached the end, I was so disappointed that I immediately turned back to page one and read the whole thing again. Then I read it again. OK, maybe I was a little OCD, but I really identified with Huck and his world.

Many years later I read "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling. I was transported by the story, the characters, and the setting. I've read all seven books several times (hmmm, maybe I really am OCD) and still love them. In fact the Harry Potter books inspired me to write my own books.

I read anything that interests me, and that changes all the time. I'm currently reading "The Dark Side of Genius" by Donald Spoto. It's a very detailed bio of Alfred Hitchcock, the 'master of suspense.' I feel there's something to be learned by anyone who has achieved success and Hitchcock certainly had many successes in his long career.

Like Huckleberry Finn, I grew up in a small town in the Midwest. When I began writing, I embraced the oldest advice ever given to aspiring authors: write what you know. So I wrote a story about a boy growing up in a small town in the Midwest. Not very original, I admit, but I also based the story around a period of my life in which I had recurring nightmares. The main character in my first books, Charlie Applegate, also has recurring nightmares, although with a twist: Charlie's nightmares seem to predict the future.

One day in the 2nd grade, our teacher gave everyone in class a book to read. I don't remember the name, but it was about 300 pages long, the longest book I had ever considered reading up to that point. Not eager to begin, I started a conversation with the kid who sat in front of me, Robert something or other. We speculated over which would take longer, to read or to write a book. We finally decided that, even though it takes an awfully long time to read a book, it must take even longer to write one. (Duh, but remember, I was only seven.) I wrote a few poems and short stories over the years, but that conversation probably had a lot to do with my 50 year procrastination for attempting such a superhuman feat as writing a novel.

The Charlie Applegate books cover about three years in a boy's life. In the beginning he starts out as a normal boy. But things soon become abnormal when he begins having prophetic dreams. As the series progresses, Charlie makes friends, negotiates the usual minefield of romantic relationships, deals with his own fears, and grows from a boy to an adolescent. By the end of the series, he has conquered all obstacles, come to peace with his gift, and once again becomes a normal boy, more or less. Many of Charlie's experiences are taken from my own life, although most of them are enhanced to make them more interesting.

That's a very good question! A few years ago I wrote "Jack Attack, Sword of Shamazar." Like everything else I've written, it was an experiment. Instead of a 3rd person narrative as in the Charlie Applegate books, I wrote it in the 1st person. And instead of a story similar to my own life, it's a fantasy about a 16 year old boy who travels to a parallel universe where he fights monsters and an evil sorceress and falls in love. I rather like the way it turned out and have been toying with the idea for a sequel ever since.

This is one of the most-asked questions and sometimes authors try to impress by naming some of the world's greatest literary writers: Proust, Tolstoy, Dostoyevski . . . . I guess my tastes are a little more basic. Some of my favorites are: Mark Twain, Robert B. Parker, Stephen King, Dashiell Hammett, and of course J.K. Rowling.

I'm semi-retired, so I probably have more free time than most writers. When I'm not writing I enjoy gardening, cooking, and trying to keep up with my 16 year old son. I recently restored a classic Mustang and I have a part-time job as a driving instructor. The job is a lot of fun and, though I know it sounds corny, I feel like I'm doing some good in the world by teaching kids how to drive safely.

When I was in high school, I was a bit of a problem child. I went to a Catholic school and it seemed I was always getting into trouble for something or other. One day I got called to the principal's office - not an unusual occurrence. When I got there, expecting to get yelled at again, Sister Marie, instead of holding a paddle, was holding a short story I had written as an assignment in English class. It was about a man who struggles with hardships, but in the end finds the true meaning of life. My English teacher had given it to her and Sister Marie seemed genuinely impressed, almost dumbfounded, that I could write so well. She really didn't expect anything like that from the likes of me. I think it almost killed her, but she gave me a few words of praise and sent me back to class. That was when I knew I could write.